Everyone is Someone to Somebody
by The Littlest Frost Giant
Summary: 'It started rather simply, really. It was a small decision, the kind people didn't think about until after the events had already been set in motion. With Tony Stark, his whole life was composed of these types of decisions.' Kidfic. AU.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I. Own. Nothing.

* * *

It started rather simply, really. It was a small decision, the kind people didn't think about until after the events had already been set in motion. With Tony Stark, his whole life was composed of these types of decisions. It made his life more interesting, faster too, and like any other ten year old, Tony appreciated speed.

He remembered that it was around six o'clock on a fair Tuesday afternoon (or was it evening? Tony couldn't find it in him to care about some ambiguous time slot) and by this time, parents had already ushered their kids home so the park was devoid of any human life. Or it was supposed to be.

There was a young boy on the swing set, grasping the metal chains with too tight fists. The kid was a bit on the slim side, not too thin, but obviously nowhere near pudgy. He had pale skin, accentuated by the black hair framing his head and the dark grey sweater he was wearing. It was a miracle that the kid hadn't burnt into a crisp from the sun yet.

What grabbed his attention though, was his eyes. They were the colour of liquid emeralds and from what he knew, green eyes were rare and to see a pair so bright and vivid was a nice surprise.

Tony couldn't pinpoint the kid's age, but he put him around four or five considering the tiny body, swinging idly back and forth without much enthusiasm. For a kid that young to be out here, this late and (Tony looked around, no one else was with them) with no parent supervision...

Well, curiosity had ways been a near and dear friend to Tony.

"Hello there," Tony greeted, a smile on his face as he walked up to the mystery child.

"...Mommy says I'm not supposed to talk to strangers," came the soft reply. The kid looked up and at him with weary eyes, narrowing them slightly as they evaluated Tony with a look he was certain little ones shouldn't have

Never one to be a little bit snarky, Tony couldn't help but point out, "Uh, hate to break it to you, but you just did."

"Mommy says that doesn't count."

"C'mon kid, look at me. I'm_ ten_ years old, you can't seriously think I'm one of those creepy men with vans, right?" And wasn't that a mental image? Sad thing was, Tony could imagine himself driving around in a cool, fast car (vans were lame) while trying to pick kids off the street via tantalizing offering them candy. He was six years away from getting a driver's licence, so that image might very well become a reality. Tony already had his sights set on a car.

"Mommy says-"

"Forget what your mommy says!" Tony cried, cutting the kid off, "She isn't here right now, is she? So -"

In hindsight, that was one of his worst ideas yet. He was such an idiot.

When Tony saw those big, baby greens water up, he _lost_ it. He was an only child and generally, he shied away from the young ones. He wasn't equipped with the proper training to deal with crying kids and since he was the one who caused it, he probably never would be.

A gold star for trying though.

"Oh no kid, don't cry. Look. I'm sorry, I tend to have a big mouth and sometimes I don't quite think before I talk," Tony stopped himself from rambling further and took a deep breath, holding out his hand, "Let's start over. I'm Tony Stark, ten year old genius extraordinaire."

The kid paused and Tony held his breath. There was water clinging at the corners of those green eyes and if they dripped...

"...Loki." It was so quiet, barely a whisper, and he would have missed it if it wasn't for the wind. They shook hands and Tony couldn't keep the grin off his face. It was an odd name, but who was he to judge? Oh yeah, he was Tony Stark.

"Have a last name, Lokes? It's a nickname." he added at Loki's look of confusion.

"...Loki Laufeyson."

Tony had never heard that before. The kid must've been new in Marvel City. Well, he was always up for making new friends and wouldn't hurt him take little Loki under his wing. The raven looked so lost and Tony couldn't exactly abandon a kid with the most unfair looking kicked-puppy expression known to humanity. If his old man saw this look, maybe Tony could use it to coax him out of the lab so that one Howard Stark could finally spend some quality time with his own son.

Tony mentally slapped himself. _One_, that was a depressing train of thoughts and he didn't feel up to boarding it. _Two_, he couldn't use Loki like that.

"Nice to meet you Loki. Now, can you tell me why you're all alone? Where's your mom or dad?"

What was considered impossible was now possible as the sad, forlorn look on Loki's face grew even sadder. Alarm bells rang in his head and Tony mind-slapped himself again. He had to pt a leash or something on his mouth, this was getting ridiculous.

"Mommy and Daddy are gone..."

Tony's breath hitched.

"Fu- Darn. Gone? What do you mean _gone_?"

And then Loki snapped.

He broke out into a high-pitched cry, tears streaming down his cheeks, small body trembling as it was wracked with heart-clenching sobs. It was a horrible, scratchy sound that smothered Tony right in the gut. Loki's tiny hands balled up into fists as the kid stubbornly clawed at his eyes, wiping the wet droplets away in vain.

"I don't know!" Loki wailed and Tony winced at the sound, "I-I just woke up a-a-and they were gone!"

Tony panicked as Loki kept crying and crying. He patted Loki's back as comfortingly as he could, trying his best to soothe the troubled child. Suffice to say, he wasn't doing a whole lot of good on the '_comfort_' part of the deal. He cursed under his breath and filtered his good-for-nothing brain for a solution of some sort.

Get Pepper came to mind, but he had to leave Loki in order to do that. That wasn't an option.

"Aw, no, don't cry. It's okay. It's okay," Tony cooed, wiping a couple tears away. "Um, hey, do you have any siblings? I bet they'll be right here and you can go right on home in no time."

"They're gone too!" the kid moaned, "Daddy, Mommy, Hel, By - everyone left me!"

By the name of the may-or-may-not-be-there deity in the sky.

The next few minutes are then filled with choked sobs and watery words as Tony held the shaking kid in a tight hug. At some point, he managed to heft Loki off of the swing, only to have him latch onto him life a lifeline. Tony sighed. His heart went out to Loki and his situation. While his father was a terrible one, at least he and his somewhat less horrible wife stayed. With Loki, he had _no one_.

Tony couldn't even wrap his head around being abandoned like that. To be left behind while everyone moved on without you - he hugged Loki that much tighter.

Eventually, the sobs petered off into silence, only the occasional hiccup interrupting the quiet stillness of the evening. Tony ran a hand through his short brown hair and gave Loki a small smile. Loki sniffled. He knew he should be heading home by now, but Loki needed him.

"Alright, Lokes. I got a question or two for you. Think you can answer them?"

The small haired head currently burrowed in his chest nodded and Tony ruffled the kid's hair.

"Awesome. First, how old are you?"

The mumbled reply of '_Six_' made Tony tense. He felt anger bubble inside his stomach at the injustice of it all. It was a disgusting thought. Loki was only six years old and he had already lost everything that was anything to him.

"So young..." Tony mumbled to himself, filing away a reminder to track down Loki's family and murder them all, "Now two, do you have anyone to take care of you? A home to go back to? Anything?"

"That's four questions."

"Oops."

Loki giggled. It was soft and quiet and filled with water, but it was the happiest noise the kid had made so far. It was beautiful. Tony's chest flushed with pride.

"Haha, right. My mistake. But do you have an answer to any of them?" Tony prodded, feeling slightly guilty at ruining the light atmosphere, but he needed to know. Someone had to be out there looking out for the little guy.

There was a pause as Loki thought about his answer and Tony furrowed his brow.

"T-There's one person..."

The heir to the Stark corporation sighed in relief and he felt Loki's frown turn upside down. It was a glorious moment that left Tony reeling from just how good he was feeling.

"I'm glad."

When his phone rang, his mom calling to tell him to high-tail it back home, he didn't care. As long as Loki had one person to take care of him, he could leave the kid in good faith that he will be okay at least until they meet again at the park.

"Bye Lokes, see you tomorrow." Tony grinned brightly and rested his hand on top of Loki's slicked back hair before letting it drop by his side. Loki smiled back tentatively, eyes puffy and red, but smiling as well.

"Bye-bye Tony."

And Tony was off.

As Loki stared at the ten year old's retreating back, he saw the single person who he somehow knew would take care of him go as well.

"Come back..."

* * *

I know I shouldn't be starting another story, but this one wouldn't leave my head. Since I have another one in the works, this will be put in the backseat while I work on the main one.

Right, so, this is obviously an AU and a Kidfic. I have a soft spots for both so might as well combine them. I do have a plot, though I might just leave this to be a one-shot since I kind of like where it ends?

Testing out a simpler, light hearted writing style. I really like it.

Anywho, happy reading!


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I. Own. Nothing.

* * *

Tony didn't have a lot of friends at school. He could count on one hand the number of friends (not mere acquaintances) he had who actually _liked_ him back. There was Pepper, but she was secretly a goddess (if only he believed in those) in disguise and therefore didn't count. There was also Rhodey, his childhood friend since forever. The guy was a bit too strict given his military upbringing, but Rhodey was a good, loyal friend who put up with him and that was a lot considering how '_eccentric'_ Tony could be.

So that his left his friend count at...one. Two, he corrected, sneaking in Pepper because that number was a bit too small for his tastes. Tony later revised it to two point five after meeting Loki. He hoped to make it three by the time he actually got to know the kid and if it bothered him that he was seeking companionship from a six year old, he didn't think about it.

"Tony?"

Tony made a noise, signaling that he was listening with at least one ear. They were sitting under one of the big oak trees, enjoying a lazy-feeling October evening. Ever since their fateful meeting a week ago, Tony had been almost ritual with his meetings, coming straight home after school, blazing through his homework and departing at around six or so to meet Loki at the park. The ink-haired wonder was always there before him. He just assumed Loki lived near. He questioned why they never saw each other at school. It turned out the the kid was home-schooled He left it at that.

Loki looked thoughtful, "What does '_accident_' mean?"

"Accident? Why do you want to know that?"

"...It's..." Green eyes averted his gaze and a pink tongue swiped across his lips, "Important."

Tony clicked his tongue. It wasn't often that Loki asked him questions about such menial subjects. Definitions were never particularly a favourite of his, the kid preferring to figure out stuff by himself, connecting the dots on his own. If he needed help, he asked for it, but tried to avoid it as long as he could. As a man (because he was _not_ a boy) of science, Tony appreciated Loki's style of learning. They were both hands-on learners who had something to prove.

"It means when something you don't like happens. Not on purpose, though. It just...happens," Tony answered finally, picking out his words carefully because Loki really was only six. He didn't want to sound like one of those sugary-sweet teachers who had a degrading accent because '_Oh, but they're just children. They can't understand this stuff yet.'_ Tony scoffed, there were many other ways to phrase his answer. A lot of them just happened to contain some very long words that Loki probably never heard in his life.

"Oh."

Something about the tone, the way he said it just screamed _off._ Tony regarded Loki with a mix of concern and curiosity.

"Something else on your mind?" Tony prodded gently, trying his best to not be insensitive. He swore that if Loki cried again because of his stupid, big, fat mouth, he would dance on his hands to make the tears go away. Kids crying - not his area of expertise.

"Daddy, he-" Loki started, shifting positions and biting his lip. The way his legs were pressed flush against his chest and how his arms wrapped around them tightly made Loki look infinitely smaller and more vulnerable. Tony could already fill in the blanks and he put a hand on Loki's shoulder (that was what friends did to other friends right? Shit, he was not good at this) and squeezed it reassuringly. When Loki winced, he pulled his hand away and apologized.

The next few moments were spent in relative awkward silence.

"You don't have to tell me you know," Tony mumbled, once again, filing away a reminder to murder (and maim, he added later on) Loki's family.

Loki gave him a thankful look and they spent the rest of their time pretending to be superheros. He was a man with really cool armour that shot missiles and Loki was a wizard. Together they battled against an army of giant reindeer-reptile crossbreeds.

They won and what a _satisfying_ victory it was.

* * *

When he finally came home, he didn't waste any time in rushing up to his room, making a blatant point of _ignoring_ his father. Tony ordered Jarvis, the family butler, to remind him when it was dinner time before closing and locking his door.

He heard his mother gently ask where he had been through the wooden barrier and he answered with a vague '_Out'_.

Tony laced his fingers together and cracked his knuckles, slipping into his chair and booting up his laptop. A couple clicks and the word '_Laufeyson_' typed into Google later, he already had several tabs open. One was about Icelandic naming traditions after Google had said _Did you mean:_ Laufey to his first search.

The one that was labeled '_Laufey'_ was some fancy article about a frost giantess from Norse Mythology. He skimmed through the information and clicked the hyperlink leading to another article about a god of mischief named Loki. Tony hummed in surprise and made a note to tell Loki about this earlier.

After that, he managed to find a biography about an Icelandic man (Tony snorted) who was making ground-breaking strides in glaciology. He stopped reading and skipped to the end once the author started gushing about how amazing and brilliant Laufey was, even if the man was a bit rude. Tony had heard enough of those types of comments from people talking to him and his father. Sadly, there was no address of any sort of where this Laufey was living in currently. All he had was a sad, tearful message that Laufey had moved to the Americas ages ago. The year stated 1935.

He disregarded it.

The third tab was the one that caught his attention thought. Brown eyes scanned the blog with interest. It was a about a house-fire that happened in Marvel City seventy years ago. He read it mostly because nothing interesting ever happened in Marvel City (yet there was a lot of action in New York and Tony made it is mission to move to the city when he was older) and it happened to mention one very familiar Laufey.

_...neighbours were given quite the wake-up call when at around 3:00 am, the sounds of explosions reached their ears. The flames reached up to scorching temperatures as the house was engulfed. Firefighters took well over an hour to put the blaze under control, and an additional thirty to extinguish it._

_It comes as grim news to say that the family inhabiting the house all died as they were unable to escape in time. Among them was Laufey Einarson, a leading glaciologist..._

It continued on but after that bit, Tony lost interest as he looked for a date.

_1942._

He groaned, all that time for nothing. How many Laufeys could their be? Norse Mythology must really be popular back in Iceland.

Still, that one article about Loki could be worthwhile.

_Knock._

"Sir, dinner is ready."

"Thank-you Jarvis."

* * *

Dinner was an awkward affair, Tony would admit later in the evening. It was just him and mother, not to say that that wasn't a surprising outcome. Howard Stark held no interest in his family and it made Tony wonder why his mother would marry such a man.

"So, what did you do today, Tony?" Maria Stark asked with a polite, caring smile.

Tony paused. He felt like standing up and slamming his hands on the table, crying out with accusations about how she really didn't care about him and it was no use to pretend that she cared. But he didn't and he commended himself on his self-control.

"Hung out with a friend," Tony answered as vaguely as he could. He placed a piece of pork in his mouth and chewed.

"Really? Sounds like it was fun. Who is it?"

"A kid."

Maria frowned and Tony felt no guilt.

"Do you have a name?"

Tony smirked smugly, "Tony Stark."

"Tony..."

"You asked if I had a name, and I did more than just confirm it," he shrugged and went back to eating.

They ate the rest of their meal in silence.

* * *

Tony laid in his bed and wondered how he could track down Loki's incredibly elusive parents. All the technology 2012 had to offer and then some at his fingertips and he couldn't even find out the addressees of some jerks.

He turned over.

Tony knew he could always ask Loki where he lived, but it felt creepy (and what he was planning to do totally _wasn't_) to ask a young child that question. Plus, that wouldn've been boring.

The police station probably had some records in the archives. If Loki was home-schooled then that implied that Loki had a home. Probably in Marvel City since it needed to be close to the park. Tony frowned. He realized that the only way to get his hands on those records would be to sneak in.

Or...

He could always have someone give it to him. Maybe a certain blond with blue eyes and a patriotism that made him want to puke.

It helped that that guy also happened to be the son of the head police chief.

* * *

I didn't expect the response so I wrote up the next chapter extra early (making my procrastination work for me).

Okay, Laufey Einarson is just, I don't know. Who is Laufey's father anyway?

Happy reading!


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